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School of Music

 

Profile of Dr Pwyll ap Siôn

Image of Dr Pwyll ap Sion

Name:

Dr Pwyll ap Siôn

Position:

Senior Lecturer in Music

Email:

Location:

Main Arts Building (first floor, up the stairs opposite Powis Hall)

Phone:

+44 (0) 1248 383808

Background

Pwyll ap Siôn is a musicologist and composer. He read music at Magdalen College Oxford, graduating in 1990. He studied composition with John Pickard, David Gottlieb and Martin Butler, receiving his PhD in 1998. He has been a member of staff at the School of Music since 1993.

His research and teaching interests include minimalist music, Michael Nyman and the new tonality of the twenty-first century. In 2007 he co-organized the first-ever international Conference on Music and Minimalism, and helped establish the Society for Minimalist Music. His monograph on The Music of Michael Nyman has been described in Music and Letters as a ‘groundbreaking study … it represents a substantial contribution to musicology.’ His edited volume on Michael Nyman: Collected Writings is due out in 2013. He is co-editor of the Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music, also due out in 2013. He also produces regular reviews and blogs for Gramophone magazine.

Ap Siôn has published in the area of Welsh popular music and Celtic music. In 2011 he was invited by the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies to give a paper at the Scottish Parliament on ‘Welsh Culture and the Politics of Devolution’. He is chief editor of the forthcoming Companion to Welsh Music, which is funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

As composer his is music may be described as post-minimalist in style. In 2008 he was commissioned by the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition to compose a test piece for solo violin. ‘The White Wheat’ was performed at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff and the score published in The Strad magazine. Recent commissions have included the successful Opera/Oratorio Gair ar Gnawd (‘Word on Flesh’) for Welsh National Opera Max. His orchestral work Gwales was performed by the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra during their 2012 season, and a song-cycle for Soprano and String Orchestra which sets Cornish and Welsh texts will be performed by soprano Elin Manahan Thomas and the European Union Chamber Orchestra in February 2013.

 

Teaching

  • Minimalism
  • Michael Nyman
  • Cage and Experimental Music
  • The Beatles
  • Composition
  • Twentieth-century music

 

Responsibilities

  • Joint Deputy Head of School
  • (Acting) Head of Composition

Research

Research Interests

  • Minimalism
  • The music of Michael Nyman
  • Composition
  • Welsh Music

Recent publications

 

Musicology

Books, Edited Books and Chapters in Edited Books

  • The music of Michael Nyman: Texts, Contexts and Intertexts (Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing, 2007) (232 pages)
  • (with Tristian Evans) ‘Parallel Symmetries? The Relationship Between Minimalist Music and Multimedia Forms’, in Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media: A Critical Overview (ed. Graeme Harper), New York: Continuum Press (2009), pp. 671–91
  • (ed.) Building New Business Strategies for the Music Industry in Wales (Bangor University, 2009)
  • ‘Seeds of Change? Art, Folk and Popular music in Ireland, Scotland and Wales: 1960–2000’, in Nations on the Move (ed. Margaret Connell-Szasz), New York: SUNY Press (forthcoming, 2013)
  • (with Keith Potter and Kyle Gann) The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music (forthcoming, 2013)
  • ‘Reference and Quotation in Minimalist and Postminimal music’, in the Ashgate Companion to Minimalist and Post-Minimalist Music (Ashgate Press) (forthcoming, 2013)
  • Michael Nyman: The Collected Writings (Ashgate Press) (forthcoming, 2013)
  • (chief editor) Y Cydymaith i Gerddoriaeth Cymru [The Companion to Welsh Music] (due, 2014)

Articles in Refereed Journals

  • ‘Nationhood, and the Welsh Composer’ in Welsh Music History, vol. 7, 2007, pp. 285–303
  • “‘Ysgrifen ar y mur’? Traddodiadau’r Canu Pop Cymraeg 1979–1997”, Ysgrifau Beirniadol 29 (gol/ed. Gerwyn Williams), Llandysul: Gwasg Gee, 2011
  • ‘Robert Carl, Terry Riley’s In C’, in Twentieth-Century Music, 7/2 (September 2010), pp. 248–53

Dictionary Articles or Book Prefaces

  • ‘Light Music’ in The Academi Encyclopaedia of Wales, eds. Menna Baines and Nigel Jenkins (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007)
  • Preface to Hefin Wyn: Ble Wyt Ti Rhwng? Hanes Canu Poblogaidd Cymraeg 1980–2000 (Talybont: Lolfa, 2006), pp. 9–11

Publications relating to teaching and music education

  • Composing Contemporary Music – A Student’s Guide (with Iwan Llewleyn-Jones) (Aberystwyth University Press, 2011)

Website publications

Contributions to published conference proceedings

  • (main author in co-authored paper with Ruth Barnett) ‘‘Nearly Stationary’: The use of silence in Cage’s String Quartet in four parts’; article included on CD-ROM of the 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Bologna, August 22–26, 2006 (ISBN 88-7395-155-4)

Conference Papers and Invitations to present research seminar in other institutions

  • ‘Tuag at Deipoleg o Gyfnewid Iaith mewn Enghreifftiau Diweddar o Ganu Pop Cymraeg’ (Ninth Conference of the Centre for Advanced Welsh Music Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, 21-4 June 2007)
  • [with Tristian Evans] ‘Parallel Symmetries? Exploring Relationships between Minimalist Music and Multimedia Forms’ (First International Conference on Music and Minimalism, Bangor University, 31 August – 2 September 2007)
  • ‘Towards a Typology of Code mixing in Recent Welsh-language Popular Music’, ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice, 29 October 2007
  • ‘Tuag at Deipoleg o Gyfnewid Iaith mewn Enghreifftiau Diweddar o Ganu Pop Cymraeg’, Cyfres Seminarau’r Ganolfan Geltaidd (Research Seminar series for the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies), Prifysgol Cymru, 29 January 2009
  • ‘Minimalism, Multimedia and Nyman’s Man on Wire’, Research Seminar Series, Birmingham Conservatoire, 24 March 2009
  • ‘Exploring Musical Settings of the Cynghanedd’, part of the AHRC-funded Beyond Text project led by Dr Sally Harper, Bangor University, 16 May 2009
  • “‘Taking a Line for a Second Walk”: Mapping Intertextuality in Nyman’, Second International Conference on Music and Minimalism, University of Missouri in Kansas City, 3–6 September 2009
  • ‘Celtic Music’, Nations on the Move colloquium, hosted by the AHRC Centre for Scottish and Irish Studies, University of Aberdeen, 29 October 2009
  • ‘Minimalist Film Music in Context: The Case of Man on Wire’ (Pwyll ap Sion, Bangor University, Wales UK), Leeds Film Music Conference, Friday 6 November 2009
  • ‘“Ethiopia Newydd”?  Iwtopia a Dystopia mewn Canu Pop Cymraeg wedi Refferendwm 1979’, Cofio’r Chwalfa Fawr: Dylanwad Refferendwm 1979 ar Lenyddiaeth Gymraeg ac ar y Meddwl a’r Dychymyg Cymreig, Bangor University, 7 November 2009
  • ‘“Sign of the Times”? The Rise and Fall of Nationalism in Welsh Popular Culture between 1960 and 2000, in Music in Wales: the old and the new, CAWMS conference at St. Fagans and Cardiff University, 12 November 2009
  • ‘“Timeless Voices”? The evocation of nostalgia in post-minimal music, Tenth International Conference of the Department of Music (University of the Arts, Belgrade), 17 April 2010
  • ‘The Music Industry in Wales’, research seminar at the ATRIUM, Cardiff, 26 May 2010
  • 'The Culture of Devolution: Language, Media, Arts – A Welsh Perspective', conference on The Politics of Devolution, Scottish Parliament, 5 November 2010
  • ‘Reference and Quotation in Minimalist and Post-Minimal music’, Colloquia at Bard College, NY, 11-13 March 2011
  • ‘Reference and Quotation in Minimalist and Post-Minimal music’, Colloquia hosted by Wolverhampton University, 8-10 April 2011
  • “‘Conspicuous Allusions and Hidden Quotations’: Analysing Intertextuality in Postmodern Music’, Seventh International Conference on Music Since 1900, Lancaster University 28-31 July 2011
  • ‘“I’m now concerned with making beautiful music above everything else …”: new light on Michael Nyman’s interview with Steve Reich, La Rochelle, 1976,’ Third International Conference on Music and Minimalism, Catholic University, Leuven, 12-15 October 2011

Miscellaneous Articles

  • Reviewer for Gramophone music magazine since 2007
  • ‘Outside Looking In’, insight article on Nyman published in the official programme accompanying the Nyman Live at Cadogan Hall series of concerts held between 6–8 June 2008
  • Accompanying articles and programme notes for Nyman Prom premiere of The Musicologist Scores, The BBC Proms, 25 August 2009
  • Programme notes on Alun Hoddinott’s Celebration Dances and Symphony No. 10 for BBC NOW concerts at the Millennium Centre, 2010

Composition

Orchestral and Stage Works

  • Gwales (orchestra), 14’, performed by BBC NOW under Grant Llywelyn, Bangor New Music Festival, 26 March 2010, Radio 3 broadcast on ‘Here and Now’ 31 July 2010; to be performed by the North Carolina Symphony in their Spring 2012 Concert Series
  • Y Gair ar Gnawd / The Word (staged oratorio with words by Menna Elfyn) (chamber ensemble, two soloists and SATB choir), 60 minutes, to be performed by members of WNO, part of WNO Max project, Galeri, March 2012
  • Song Cycle for Elin Manahan Thomas and the European Chamber Orchestra, using folk material from Wales and Cornwall, to be performed in Truro and Caernarfon, March 2013

Solo, Chamber and Vocal Works

  • Rok Tab (solo Piano), 1’, performed by David Appleton, part of Bartok – Subject and Reflection series, Vibe Bar, London, 16 February 2010

Film Music, Arrangements and Adaptations

  • The White Wheat, 4’, arrangement of Welsh folk song for solo violin; commissioned by the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, Cardiff 11-20 April 2008, as test piece for the under 16s category; first performance by winner of the composer’s prize, Yu-Ah Ok at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 20 April 2008 (all performances web-streamed during the event and score published in March edition of the Strad magazine, 2008)
  • Three Folk-Song Arrangements for Solo Violin, 12’, ‘Y Gwenith Gwyn’ [The White Wheat], ‘Y Bore Glas’ [The Fine Morning] and ‘Y Deryn Pur’ [The Gentle Dove]
  • Y Chwarelwr [The Quarryman] (piano quintet), 40’, soundtrack to reconstructed 1930s film for Cwmni Da TV; premiere 7 October 2006; S4C broadcast 10/12/06
  • Frongoch (large ensemble), 45’, soundtrack to drama-documentary about the aftermath of the Easter Rising, joint commission between RTE and S4C (various broadcasts on RTE and S4C during 2007)
  • Hen Ferchetan, 3’, (TTBB) commissioned by Côr Meibion y Traeth Male Voice Choir; first performance at the Mold National Eisteddfod 11/8/07; broadcast on Radio Cymru, S4C and digital S4C
  • Diwedd [End], 2’, (TTBB) commissioned by Côr Meibion y Traeth Male Voice Choir; first performance at the Cardiff National Eisteddfod 9/8/08; broadcast on Radio Cymru, S4C and digital S4C
  • Sig tune and incidentals for BRO (S4C, 2010)

CD and DVD recordings

  • Waltz, on Welsh Portraits CD, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones (Piano), Sain Records (SCD 2308) 2001
  • Glyndŵr, on Making Music in Corwen CD, BBC NOW et al, Resound (R1001) 2001
  • Three Folk-Songs, on Songs of the People CD, Buddug Verona James (Mezzo) and Andrew Wilson-Dickson (Piano), Fflach Records (CD295H) 2006
  • Y Chwarelwr, on Y Chwarelwr DVD, Cwmni Da / S4C (ISBN 186225053) 2006
  • Emyn (Piano Duet), on Diversity – Amrywiaeth, Davies Piano Duet, Campion Cameo (Cameo 2073) 2007
  • Three Folk Songs, arrangement for piano, recorded by Iwan Llewelyn-Jones on Songs Without Words (Sain SCD 2646, 2011)

External Funding Successes

  • British Academy Small Research Grant (September 2006-7), on The Collected Writings of Michael Nyman
  • Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) Knowledge Exploitation Capacity Development Fesibility Study: ‘Developing New Business Strategies for the Music Industry in Wales’
  • Welsh Federal College – Companion to Welsh Music Project
  • British Council Overseas Scholarship for Composers

Other Positions and Memberships

  • Music Advisor for the Arts Council of Wales
  • Committee member of the Society for Minimalist Music
  • Editorial board of The Soundtrack journal (2011– )
  • Editorial board of Welsh Music History journal (2002– )